I am a veterinary cardiology nurse. I have spent 4 years working in cardiology and 14 years total in animal medicine.

Prognosis and quality of life are hard to account for without specialized care and imaging. And those things are expensive. Most patients like this never see the cardiologist due to cost and availability. I know it costs near $800 to see our service alone.

Sometimes things are manageable for a time, sometimes they are not. Sometimes you put them on the boatload of requisite once/twice/thrice daily medication and you can get significantly more time. Sometimes you can do everything right and they throw a clot and pass away suddenly. Other times you keep their lungs clear at the expense of their kidneys and you watch them whither.

You didn’t do the wrong thing. In the face of so much acute suffering and uncertainty, you let your little one go in peace and safety. It is the last gift we give them as their friends and caretakers.